Birds of Prey
Birds of Prey is the fifth episode of the sixth series of the popular ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders and originally aired 31st January 2003. Synopsis While DS Troy assists an attractive wildlife liaison officer with an investigation into the illegal sale of protected bird eggs, DCI Barnaby travels to Midsomer Magna to investigate the sudden death of a man, who apparently drowned himself. While there was evidence he was desperately seeking to avoid bankruptcy, and had visited a local millionaire to get back his money from a scheme he had invested in, a post mortem reveals that he had been murdered. The two detectives soon find their investigations crossing over, when a man found to have an illegal collection of bird eggs, is also murdered, prompting concerns that the millionaire's scheme is being used to defraud many, and that someone is willing to kill to keep the scheme going. Plot The police investigate the apparent suicide of Julian Shepherd who drowned after driving his car into a nearby river. Shepherd along with several other local residents had invested money in Charles Edmonton's latest invention, a fuel-less transportation system. Edmonton, despite his advanced years, instilled a good deal of confidence in his investors but Shepherd was facing severe financial difficulties and urgently needed his investment to be returned. Troy meanwhile finds himself working with the comely PC Sarah Pearce who, as a wildlife liaison officer, is investigating the illegal sales of birds of prey and their eggs. The two cases come together when a birds' egg collector is found dead after a visit to the Edmonton estate. As the number of dead bodies begins to climb, Barnaby realizes that there is something far more sinister at play. Cast *John Nettles as DCI Tom Barnaby *Daniel Casey as Sgt Gavin Troy *Jane Wymark as Joyce Barnaby *Laura Howard as Cully Barnaby *Barry Jackson as Dr. George Bullard *Kate Buffery as Mallory Edmonton *David Calder as George Hamilton *Alexandra Gilbreath as Naomi Sinclair *Robert Morgan as Julian Shepherd *Rosalind Knight as Eleanor Macpherson *Sheila Shand Gibbs as Jane Macpherson *Anton Lesser as Eddie Darwin *Candida Benson as PC Sarah Pearce *Janet Maw as Eileen Hamilton *Trevor Cooper as Sean Moorcroft *Richard Todd as Charles Edmonton *Kenneth Gilbert as Hilary Carlton *Bernard Gallagher as Vernon Surtees *Neil Conrich as PC Angel *Jemma Churchill as Maisie Cullen *Harry Gostelow as Dr. Robertshaw *Nicholas Pritchard as Solicitor *Neville Phillips as Vicar *Edward Clayton as Butcher *Tim Treloar as Thames Valley Constable Galleries Body Count Julian-shepherd.jpg|Julian Shepherd Drowned in bath and body placed in car which was driven into the river as to make it appear to be a suicide. Charles-edmonton.jpg|Charles Edmonton Dr. Bullard claims it was a heart attack, but Dr. Sinclair implies that she had something to do with his demise. Eddie-darwin.jpg|Eddie Darwin Run over by vehicle and died later from internal bleeding. George-hamilton.jpg|George Hamilton Stabbed by spear that was taken from his collection of African artifacts, then fell on top of fire that was lit to burn the mentioned collection. Supporting Cast Mallory-edmonton.jpg|Mallory Edmonton Naomi-sinclair.jpg|Naomi Sinclair Eleanor-macpherson.jpg|Eleanor Macpherson Jane-macpherson.jpg|Jane Macpherson Sarah-pearce.jpg|Sarah Pearce Eileen-hamilton.jpg|Eileen Hamilton Sean-moorcroft.jpg|Sean Moorcroft Maisie-cullen.jpg|Maisie Cullen Justin-pickard2.jpg|Solicitor Episode Images Birds-of-prey-01.jpg Birds-of-prey-02.jpg Birds-of-prey-03.jpg Birds-of-prey-04.jpg Birds-of-prey-05.jpg Birds-of-prey-06.jpg Notes *Last appearance of Neil Conrich as PC Angel. The following actors and actresses who appeared in this episode have also appeared in the following episodes *Neil Conrich - The Killings at Badger's Drift, Written in Blood, Death of a Hollow Man, Death's Shadow, Strangler's Wood and Beyond the Grave *Neville Phillips - Faithful unto Death, Garden of Death, Dark Autumn, Vixen's Run and The Black Book *Rosalind Knight - A Sacred Trust *Tim Treloar - The Fisher King, Ghosts of Christmas Past and Secrets and Spies *Nicholas Pritchard - Death and Dust *Janet Maw - Murder on St. Malley's Day *Robert Morgan - Shot at Dawn *Anton Lesser - Talking to the Dead *Harry Gostelow - Ghosts of Christmas Past *Edward Clayton - Echoes of the Dead Category:Series Six episodes